Cushion cleat wheel



g- 1933- R. T. OSMAN ET AL ,5 v

CUSHION CLEAT WHEEL Filed Dec. 31, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l glf' ATTORNEYS Aug. 8, 1933. os ET AL 1,921,537

CUSHION CLEAT WHEEL Filed Dec. 31, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 m vtw TORS R 7' Osrrnarv Zfil zz'laembery ATTORNEYS Aug. 8, 1933. R. T. OSMAN ET AL CUSHION CLEA'I' WHEEL File'd Dec.'3l, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Aug. 8, 1933 4 v I. I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CUSHION oLEAr' WHEEL Ralph T. Osman and Erich H; Lichtenberg, Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to KoehringCompany. Milwaukee,Wis.,a Corporation t Application December 31, 1930. Serial No. 505,856

' 14 Claims. (01. 305-13) This invention relates to traction treads and modified form of, cushion :c'onstruction as apmore particularly to attachments for the traction plied to the wheel, the tread member beingshown wheels of tractors and similar or analogous main elevation; I chines where considerable tractive effort is re- Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view .of a fur.-

. uired for draw pushing, carrying, or otherther modified form of cushion construction as 60 wise moving heavy loads, said attachments being applied to the wheel, the tread member being in the form of cushioned cleats ortread memshown in elevation; V I l bers suitably carried by the wheels. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, of a In machines of this character embodying th still further modified form of construction; crawler principle, it is customary to secure the Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation of a 65 tread members to the wheels through a loose traction wheel to which a modified tread member metallic joint or bearing, such a construction construction is applied, parts being broken away obviously being very noisy in operation and otherand shown in section; and wise objectionable in the transmission of shocks Fig. 8 is a. sectional View taken on the'line 15 and vibrations to the machine as a whole as well 8--8 of Fig. 7. y a 7 0 as to the associated tread and traction mecha- Like reference characters designate correnisms. sponding parts in the several figures of the It is an objectof the present invention to utidrawings. lize the crawler principleof operation without Referring to Figs. 1 .to 3, 1 denotes generally reduction in al tractor speed while elimia conventional tractor or analogous machine 75 nating the shocks and vibrations of the usual pin having the usual tracti0n,..whee1s :2 t hich or other forms of metallic J'ointsbetween the the tread members or cleatsgenerally designated tread members and traction wheels. by 3, are suitably attached. The rims 40f the A u th bj t of the v tion is to provide traction wheels 2 are preferably provided with '25 the tread members with suitable resilient cushapertures 5 therein at intervals about the periph- 80 ions of rubber or other similar material. ery thereof for receiving a headed shank or rib A Still further Object is P v d t y- 6 extending from one face of the shoes or tread mounted tread members wherein the resilient m be s 7, the head being designated by the Cus material is n a y under D reference numeral 8. Insertion of theheadand v sion whereby to maintain the said tread members h k th h th apertures may b 85 in spaced relation to the traction wheels and at plished by tilting the tread members so as to Subs y right angles to t respective Spokes insert one side of the head through the aperture, thereof when the tread members are out ofcona Subsequent tjlting 't opposite direction p'ei-a tact W th t round. mitting thecomplete insertion of the head. This Another object of the invention is to provide action is ery Similar t th m of inserting 90 a Construction which a comparatively few a collar button or analogous fastening means parts, is simple in construction, quiet in operathrough tt 1 tion, and may be readily and easily attached to at d preferably on the inner surface of the n removed'from the hfi lwheel rim are resilient cushioning members 39, t.

40 Other and further ObJGOtS and advantages Of said cushioning members closely engaging the the invention will be hereinafter set forth and head3 The cushioning b ifp e a the nVe1 feature$ thgreof defined by the formed ina plurality of sections between'certain peedegl 01212118. V of which the head '8 is inserted and a cover n e rawmgs' or casing 10 is placedover the cushioning merngigi i ggi zfiggg gz figfi g? 55 :53 3: bers, and suitably secured to the rim of the wheel I by bolts 11, or in any desired manner so as to tion of the tread members and associated cusho ions as appliedto the traction wheels, certain nrmauy p1ace 0118111011111? members undejr of the partsbeing broken away and shown in compresslon' A plate 12 havmg flange 13515 section; I

Fig. 2 sectional viewtaken on 1m wheel rim for the purpose-of retaining the cushof A I ioning members in spaced relation to the" shanks Fig 3 is an a g detail vperspective View 6 of the tread membersto permit the same to of a tread member or shoe; have free movement in the aperture 5. I

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of a It will b'ObSGI'VBd from Figs. 1 and Zthat the r preferablypositioned against the surface of the 1-05 normal compression of the resilient cushioning material, which may be of rubber or other suitable material, causes the cleats or tread members to be normally projected outwardly for a slight distance from the outer surface of the wheel rim when the tread members are out of contact with the ground. In this position, the tread members are also at substantially right angles to the respective spokes of the wheel; that is to say, the shanks 6 normally extend radially of the wheel.

During rotation of the wheels, the tread members will successively engage the ground, and by virtue of the normal spacing of the same from the peripheral surface of the wheels, the shocks produced by the transfer of the weight of the machine onto the tread members and the bringing of the tread members, into contact with the wheel incident to such transfer, will be substantially absorbed by the cushioning material, said cushioning material being readily distorted Within the casing to permit the substantially fiat contact of the tread members with the ground to provide a track on which the wheels are adapted to run. It will be further observed that at least two of the'tread members are always in substantially flat contact with the ground as the wheels rotate. If desired, the tread members may be provided with anti-skid projections or lugs 14 which will be self-cleaning'owing to the substantially straight lifting action of the tread members during rotation of the wheels, thereby eliminating pushing, packing, or tearing of the soil over which the tractor is driven.

'.If desired, the tread members and associated cushioning parts may be quickly and readily removed from the wheels to comply with the highway regulations when driving. the tractor over hard surfaced. highways. However, by virtue of the yieldable construction of the tread members,

marking of the hard surfaced road is greatly reduced, if not entirely eliminated.

Figashows amodified form of cushionconstruction wherein the housing is provided with a movable clamping plate 15 and suitable bolts 16 for effecting compression of the cushioning material 9. This construction difiersfrom that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in that the normal compression of the cushioning material in the former is produced incident to the clamping or securing of the housing to the wheel, whereas in the latter, the compression may be produced independently of the securing of the housing to the wheel.

In Fig.5, the housing is shown 'as'being formed of complemental sections 17 and 18 secured together by bolts 19. The housing unit may then be secured to the wheel in any desired manner,

the section next to the rim being preferably provided with an inwardly turned flange 20 for retaining the cushioning members.

A still further modified form of construction is shown iniFig. '6, thewheel being providedwith a supplemental rim l in spaced relation to the usual rim and located within the same, between which spaced rims are secured transverse I-beam fixed to the traction wheel in any suitable manner, as by means of pins 29. The shell extends through a slot or aperture "1 in the rim which is of sufficient size to permit the tread member to assume various anguiar positions as the traction Wheel rolls over the same. Located intermediate the inner face of the shell 26 and the pin 27 is a sleeve so formed of suitable'resilient material, said sleeve being preferably secured both to the pin 27 and the casing 26 to prevent iree rotation of the sleeve with respect to the pin and shell. If desired, the securing of the sleeve to the pin and shell may be by vulcanizing.

It will be observed that in this form of construction, the tread members are also normally maintained in spaced relation to the traction wheel until brought into contact with the ground incident to rotation of the wheel, whereupon the tread members form a track over which the trac tion wheel runs. The joint thus formed in connecting the tread memb rs to the traction wheel is readily flexed by the deformation of the sleeve to accommodate the various angular positions of the tread members which they assume in the rotation of the wheel. Quiet operation and absorbing of shocks is also attained, as in the other forms of the invention. Likewise, the simplicity of construction and the small number of parts greatly facilitate the attachment or removal of the tread members. A substantially universal joint is thus provided in the cushioning of the tread member with respect to the pin by the resilient sleeve.

The operation of the tread members should be readily apparent from the foregoing description with respect to the construction in Figs. 1 to 3, it being understood that the principle of operation is the same in all the various forms.

While the speciiic'details of construction have been herein shown and described, the invention is not conf ned thereto as changes and alterations may be made Without departing from the spirit thereof as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An attachment for a traction wheel comprising a tread member having a shank extending loosely through the rim of the wheel, a head formed on said shank, a resilient cushion enclosing said head, and a casing adapted to be secured to the rim for maintaining said cushion in position, said casing normally placing said cushion under compression.

, 2. The combination with a tract'on wheel having apertures in the rim at'intervals about the periphery thereof, of tread members having shanks extending through said apertures, said shanks having heads'formed at the inward extremities thereof and being comparatively smaller than said apertures-so as to permit of relative movement of the tread. members circumferentially of the rim incident to rotation of the wheel, and cushioning means engaging said heads for resiliently restricting the movements of said tread members. u

3. The combination with a traction wheel, .of track forming tread members having projections embedded in rubber and constituting-universal bers having shanks extending through the rim L59 of said wheel and enlarged heads on the inward extremities of the shanks, cushioning means for said tread members, said cushioning means being composed of a plurality of sections of rub-' ber between certain of which said heads are interposed, and means for normally compressing said rubber sections,

5. An attachment for traction wheels comprising a tread member having .a yieldable connection with said wheel, a pin extending transversely of and rigidly secured to said wheel adjacent to the periphery thereof, an enclosing shell formed on one side of said tread member,

for receiving the pin therethrough, saidshell extending loosely through the rim of the wheel, and a resilient sleeve intermediate said pin and shell.

6. An'attachment for traction wheels compris ing a tread member having a yieldable connection with said wheel, a pin extending transversely of and rigidly secured to said wheel adjacent to the periphery thereof, an enclosing shell formed on one side of said tread member for receiving the pin therethrough, said shell extending loosely through the rim of the wheel, and a resilient sleeve intermediate said pin and shell, said sleeve being secured to said pin and shell whereby to resist relative movement of the engaging surfaces of the sleeve with respect to the pin and shell. 7

7. The combination with a traction member having a plurality of openings circumferentially disposed therein, tread members carried by the traction member and normally spaced therefrom, each of the tread members comprising a ground engaging portion and a projection integral with the ground engaging portion and loosely extending into the said openings for universal move ment of the ground engaging portion and projection relative to the traction member, and a cushioning body of resilient material interposed between each projection and the outer periphery of the traction member. U

8. The combination with-a traction member having a plurality of openings circumferentially disposed therein, tread members carried by the traction member and normally spaced therefrom, each of the tread members comprising a ground engaging portion and a projection loosely ex tending into the said openings for universal movement of the ground engaging portion and projection relative to the traction member, and cushioning means intermediate a portion of the traction member and the said projection to cushion the tread member in its movements.

9. An attachment for a tractionwheel, comprising a radially movable tread member having a shank extending loosely through the rim of the wheel, a head formed on theshank, resilient cushioning means surroundingrthe head for cushioning the tread member in both inward and outward radial movements of the tread member,

a traction wheel, com-' ber in both inward and outward radial movements of the tread member, and a casing adapted to be secured to the inner side of the rim for maintaining the cushion in position.

11. An attachment for traction wheels comprising a tread member composed of a substantially flat piece of material having an integral I shank extending from one surface thereof in termediate the ends and substantially perpen-' dicular thereto, a housing substantially enclosing said shank, the shank being providedv with an integral flat head at the extremity of the same,

the head extending substantially parallel to the flat piece of materialaforesaid, and cushioning means embedding the head end of the shank and allowing free universal movement of the tread member.

12. The combination with a traction member,

of tread members, carried thereby .and normally spaced therefrom, each of the tread members having a projection extending loosely through the traction member and a yieldable connection. between the projection and traction member permitting universal movement of the tread member and cushioning the tread member during said movement, said yieldable connection comprising cushioning means interposed between the projection and the traction member, the projection being substantially surrounded by the cushioning means.

13. An attachment for a traction wheel comprising a tread member having a shank extending loosely through the rim of the wheel, a housing around the shank, a head formed on the shank, and a resilient sectional cushion within the housing and engaging the head, the cushion being disposed between the head and housing and between the head and traction wheel, the housing,

maintaining the cushion means in position.

14. The combination with a wheel of tread members having a portion extending into the wheel making a loose connection therewith, the connection including cushioning means for the tread members carried by the wheel, the cushioning means comprisingma plurality of layers the layers.

RALPH T. OSMAN. ERICH H, LICHTENBERGL 

